LA recharges its batteries: California is upholding a mandate to enforce a sales quota on electric cars from 1998. Phil Reeves reports

THE world's most ambitious scheme for introducing massproduced electric cars by the end of the century is to remain in force despite intense opposition from US and Japanese car makers.

After a two-day review, California air quality officials have decided not to alter a revolutionary mandate that requires the motor industry to sell a specified number of electric cars in the state from 1998 onwards.

The review was the focus of intense interest from the international car industry, entrepreneurs working on electric car technology, and environmentalists - the last fearing that the Californians would submit to pressure to back down and set a later deadline. The Los Angeles basin has the worst air quality in the US.

The decision means that the momentum towards electric vehicles is set to increase; two other states, New York and Massachusetts, have already adopted the Californian plan, and 10 more, plus the District of Columbia, are considering following suit later this year. Had California capitulated, they would have been legally compelled to put their plans on hold.

In what is widely seen as the world's most ambitious smog-control programme, California's air quality regulators have stipulated that, from 1998, 2 per cent of vehicles sold annually in the state by big manufacturers must be zero- emission - which, in practical terms, means electric.

The sales quota, which will initially cover 25,000 cars, rises in stages - to 5 per cent in 2001, and 10 per cent in 2003. Any company that fails to comply will face the risk of a fine, or of being barred from selling in California, one of America's biggest car markets.

After listening to dozens of submissions, the 11-member California Air Resources Board decided to stand firm, concluding that the ruling had genuinely spurred progress towards the development of an electric vehicle.

The board wanted to keep the deadline in place to force the car industry to keep working towards it. 'We have heard over and over again that the mandate caused or contributed towards these advancements,' said Jacqueline Schafer, the board chairwoman. 'I don't think we want to take any actions that would slow down or stall this progress.'

Their decision was not welcomed by the car giants, especially America's Big Three, which have long balked at the scheme.

In what appears to be a prolonged game of brinkmanship, the car makers are said to be contemplating raising the price of conventional cars to cover their losses if they are forced to 'go electric' in three and a half years' time.

Although they have spent millions of dollars on electric car research, they have played down their progress. Ford has grudgingly agreed that it will try to market electric cars from 1998, if it has to, as it would not break the law. But the company recently warned that vehicles might perform so poorly that they would 'poison the well' for electric vehicle technology.

Earlier this month, the Chrysler Corporation announced that it would begin building an electric version of its mini-vans to meet the Californian mandate, but said the vans would cost more than dollars 40,000 each and would have a range of only 100 miles before needing a battery recharge.

The development of a battery with sufficient range and at the right price is a sticking point, over which the motor industry and the anti-pollution regulators are at odds. The car makers say it will be at least seven years before they can produce one for under dollars 5,000. Batteries currently require recharging within 100 miles, a range that the car companies say is too low. Californian air quality officials contend, however, that at least one pilot project will be producing batteries by next year with a 200-mile range.

A second related question is whether the finished products will sell in significant numbers to the car-mad Californians.

The California Motor Car Dealers Association has warned that even if the electric cars are ready by 1998, they will probably sit gathering dust on showroom floors - simply outclassed by their conventional rivals.

Again, the staff of the California Air Resources Board dispute this. They claim that within three to five years, ownership costs for electric cars will be the same as for conventional cars.

Lower operating costs will help to offset the outlay on batteries, which will become cheaper with mass production and better methods of manufacture, they argue.

They say that the cost of maintaining an electric car - which requires no smog checks, tune-ups or oil changes - is expected to be 35 to 80 per cent less than that for conventional cars.

(Photograph omitted)